So I have a 75 250 i6 ford maverick, and I had just did alittle routine maintenance, more precisely, changed the two radiator hoses. After I did this, I ran them for about a day, and the upper one was to long and kinked under acceleration. I shortened it and all was well. But now, I cant drive it without antifreeze spitting into the overflow bottle. It varies from a couple drops, to about a pint. Needless to say, something isnt right. I only have to idiot light inside the car(which hasnt come on), but I am installing gauges to see if its running hot. Any ideas on whats wrong?
Possibly a blown head gasket. Try this, when the engine is cold remove the radiator cap and fill the radiator completely full to the neck. Start the engine and put a load on it ( put in drive with your foot on the brake and give it some throttle ). If you have a stick shift, put it in high gear and do the same thing. If water blows out of the radiator, the head gasket is bad. I have no faith in the " hot light " on the dash! I removed my sender for it and placed it in boiling water and it never came on! You could have easily overheated the engine and not even known! If the gasket is blown, it is not a hard or expensive job to replace it!
Cuz it isn't supposed to, water boils at 212F light is programmed to come on around 225F... The blown head gasket is a definite possibility, if it's pushing coolant out when the engine is just warm before the thermostat opens, you have a problem...
You know this also happens if your radiator cap is not functioning correctly. You see the coolant system needs to maintain proper pressurization in order to not boil over. You could also have a leak at the gasket around the water pump (although those are usually very, very obvious) or a crack in your radiator somewhere. There are also a few other stupid little things that are well worth checking prior to checking your head gaskets.
We took the thermostat out and ran it without the thermostat, and the problem seems to be solved. No overflowing, and i didnt get hot.The thermostat I had bought was supposed to be a 180 degree thermostat, but was actually 195. Gonna run it a few days and see how it goes. Then put a real 180 degree one in. Changing the radiator cap also. Thanks for the suggestions!
I may have read this wrong but dosen't the coolant recovery system catch overflow when hot and siphons it back in the radiator when it cools down. Correct me if I am wrong. i bought a lot of new vehicles before coolant recovery systems were installed and always had antifreeze overflowing.
You probably filled them a teense too much! I keep mine at just about where that label says and it doesn't overflow.
mine would puke out any overfill...it seemed self level. it was at the bottom of the top tank and would go no lower...
I just bought a new thermostat for my 75. According to the parts house it was a 195 from the factory, regardless I got a 180.
No, the extra coolant would have just overflowed, or if you have one, gone into a coolant recovery tank.
